Humans aren't rational… and yet so much economic modelling assumes we are. 

In this episode, we look at a Canadian experiment that investigated the 'gamification' of investment apps… and how one minor tweak to the app saw people increase the number of trades by a whopping 40%. 

We meet behavioural finance specialists Angel Zhong (RMIT University) and Ravi Dutta Powell (The Behavioural Insights Team) who explain how cognitive biases impact how we assess risk and make investment decisions.

Life and Shares is a four-part series that helps you understand the rules of the game so you can make informed decisions. This podcast is presented by The Ethics Centre, an independent not-for-profit that advocates for a more ethical society. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians. 

For the first two months of COVID, nearly 5,000 Australians opened an online trading account… every day. Eighty percent of them lost money.

So, is trading gambling? We speak with a clinical psychologist who’s concerned about the lack of awareness and resources for people addicted to trading. We also speak with co-founder of the International Day Trading Academy Cameron Buchanan, who admits that while trading is gambling, he thinks there’s an essential difference.

Life and Shares is a four-part series that helps you understand the rules of the game so you can make informed decisions. This podcast is presented by The Ethics Centre, an independent not-for-profit that advocates for a more ethical society. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians.  

If video killed the radio star, have brokerage apps killed the stockbroker? What's the role of robo-advisers? And how are algorithms shaping the marketplace? 

Did you know that the big players in financial services can pay to get "privileged access" to the ASX? We ask Paul Lajbcygier from the Monash Data Futures Institute, is that fair?

We also hear from UNSW Professor Gigi Foster who thinks greed and profit make the market go round – and that's not a bad thing. But on the other hand, she acknowledges there's a growing class of people who don't work for their wages – they just move their investments around. 

Life and Shares is a four-part series that helps you understand the rules of the game so you can make informed decisions. This podcast is presented by The Ethics Centre, an independent not-for-profit that advocates for a more ethical society. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians. 

Let's break down the jargon: starting with investor classifications.

Did you know that your level of wealth impacts how you can invest in the share market? In this episode, we hear from RMIT Associate Professor Chris Berg who thinks it's "deeply unethical" that retail investors ('mum and dad' investors) don't have access to the kind of products that rich people do and so are shut out of some of the most lucrative and risky investments… but accountants say there's a good reason for that. 

We also learn about the murky areas of 'ethical' and 'sustainable' investing and how it differs from 'responsible' investing. If an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is labelled sustainable, is it irresponsible for it to have a large holding in a fossil fuel company? Is ESG reporting the best way to judge which companies are good to invest in?

Life and Shares is a four-part series that helps you understand the rules of the game so you can make informed decisions. This podcast is presented by The Ethics Centre, an independent not-for-profit that advocates for a more ethical society. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians. 

Thinking about investing? Chances are, you're already playing the game. Life and Shares unpicks the share market so you can better understand how the system works.

This podcast is presented by The Ethics Centre. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians. 

We know that debt can be emotional. That sometimes it's neutral. That debt is often necessary. And that debt has a long, long history. But what's the future of debt? Will credit cards disappear from our lives? Will our concept of work itself change? In the context of a costly climate future, what are we going to have to let go of as a society? How do we need to adapt?

Hear from futurist and author Brett King and financial journalist Alan Kohler.

Life and Debt is a four-part series, hosted by The Ethics Centre's Cris Parker. Hear from financial advisors, journalists, finfluencers, psychologists and historians about the psychology, the history, the marketing and the future of debt. Created by The Young Ambassadors in The Ethics Centre's Banking and Finance Oath initiative. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians.

Debt as a concept can be unpalatable. It can mean mortgages, decades long contracts and a total loss of freedom. But for some people, debt isn't synonymous with restriction and constraint; it's an opportunity. But the way debt is sold to us influences the way we perceive it. And in the new world order of buy now pay later, how is the way debt is marketed to us shifting? 

Hear from Finfluencer Natasha Etschmann, consumer psychologist Adam Ferrier, CEO of Financial Counselling Australia Fionia Guthrie and AFR reporter Jonathan Shapiro.

Life and Debt is a four-part series, hosted by The Ethics Centre's Cris Parker. Hear from financial advisors, journalists, finfluencers, psychologists and historians about the psychology, the history, the marketing and the future of debt. Created by The Young Ambassadors in The Ethics Centre's Banking and Finance Oath initiative. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians.

Today, most of us just accept that debt is a part of life, but how did we get here? In this episode we talk to financial journalist Alan Kohler and lecturer in philosophy Dr Alex Douglas, about how debt as we know it today came to be and what role it has in our society.

Life and Debt is a four-part series, hosted by The Ethics Centre's Cris Parker. Hear from financial advisors, journalists, finfluencers, psychologists and historians about the psychology, the history, the marketing and the future of debt. Created by The Young Ambassadors in The Ethics Centre's Banking and Finance Oath initiative. Our work is made possible by donations including the generous support of Ecstra Foundation - helping to build the financial wellbeing of Australians.